Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

1979

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Buckner, Leroy M.

Abstract

Role playing is an instructional method utilized by educators in schools and colleges and by training and development people in business, industry, government, and anywhere else that education and training opportunities are offered. Instructors use role playing to change attitudes, to develop interpersonal skills, to help students gain an appreciation for certain situations and a myriad of other purposes. A review of the role playing literature revealed that none of the described role playing applications reported that role playing alone accounted for observed behavior or attitude changes. Claims of overall success are not enough to prove that the success results from role playing. Research was conducted to determine if role playing is effective as an instructional method for students who are enrolled in a "Selling Skills'' course and are required to demonstrate competence in executing those skills. Four types of role playing were investigated to determine if one type would be more effective, that is, produce a higher performance score than the three other types. The subjects were students at Broward Community College in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and in the College of Education at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida. The skill model chosen is from the TORO Company, a leader in the manufacturing and marketing of outdoor power equipment. The subjects learned the skill model for qualifying customers who wished to purchase a new lawnmower. Four types of role playing were used and compared for effectiveness: conditional role playing, both single and multiple, and didactic role playing, both single and multiple. The results were analyzed by using the analysis of variance and two-tailed t-test statistical techniques. It was found that those engaged in didactic multiple role playing achieved a higher performance score than those who were engaged in the other three types of role playing. This is true for both the post-test, with a significance at the .000 level, and the post-post-test thirty days later, with a significance of .001.

Extent

175 p.

Comments

Thesis (Educat.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1979.|College of Education|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Thesis (Educat.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1979.

Identifier

FADT11731

Format

pdf

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